Historic First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, USA (founded 1837) is the largest Presbyterian congregation in the State and one of the largest in the United States. A flagship congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), First Church played a significant role in establishing the PCA (the largest conservative Presbyterian denomination in the English-speaking world), Reformed Theological Seminary, and Reformed University Ministries (a nationwide campus fellowship).

Thursday, March 31, 2011

We are now in the main section of the book and Paul’s main argument. I want to spend a while looking at these verses, because they introduce so much of that center section.

Paul starts with an ethical exhortation clearly concerned with the life that the Philippian Christians are going to live, and the witness to the culture around them, and the unity that that life is going to bring to the experience of that local congregation. In fact, it’s very clear throughout this passage that Paul is concerned about the Philippians’ humility.

As we study this large section of the letter there are two great themes that are going to be coming back over and over again throughout. I want to briefly introduce those two things this week, and then look briefly at the two verses that we’ll study over the next several weeks.

I. Two Great Themes

The first, gospel humility creates a united front in a local congregation. It is a huge truth that he is wanting the Philippians to imbibe by everything he says in this passage. That is not humility from emulating really fine, godly, sweet, wonderful parents, but humility that comes from the gospel coming to bear on your own life in such a way that you know what it is to have received the utterly undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus Christ personally, and that reality radiates everywhere in your life.

The Apostle Paul just keeps hammering home on this is because of the second theme in this middle section of Philippians: Unity does not just happen. You cannot have unity in any organization, and especially in the local church, simply by abstaining from doing anything outrageously destructive of it. Paul in this whole section is going to say the fundamental thing that has to happen for unity to reign in a congregation of Christians is gospel humility. There can be no unity in the church without gospel humility.

Paul himself was an example of this. Paul was on what you might call the ‘progressive’ side of early Christianity, and James was on what we might call the more ‘conservative’ side of Christianity. There have always been groups in the church. But notice, Paul, the leader of this so-called progressive side of Christianity, is deeply desirous that people in Philippi - who were the product of his ministry - give an offering to help Christians back in Jerusalem under the leadership of James, under this “more conservative” Jewish side of Christianity. Paul wants those Gentiles to be giving to those Jewish Christians in Palestine because Paul could think of no better way to express the reality that there is neither Jew nor Greek because of the gospel work of Jesus Christ than for these Greek Christians, who are held in a little bit of suspicion by those Jewish Christians, to give to the Jewish Christians in their need.

Paul is all about that. He will travel land and sea in order to go back and bless those Christians who are most suspicious of his work. Oh, boy, does that have ramifications for us! If we would learn something of that lesson, it would be dramatically fellowship-transforming.

II. Worthy of the Gospel

Now, let us briefly look at Philippians 1:27 and 28 and I will outline the significance of what Paul says in the first clause. In the coming weeks, we’ll work out what it means to live a life worthy of the gospel.

Paul is giving the Philippians an exhortation in this passage, and that exhortation crumples me to my knees. Before he’s got the last syllable of it out, I’m going, “Lord, could you give me some help on this? You’re asking me to conduct myself, to live my life, in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? I would like to volunteer. I would like to get in the line right now and ask for some help.” But Paul is giving help and encouragement to you before he finishes the verse, and he’s especially giving it by way of pointing you to your motivation, even in the short first clause of Philippians 1:27: “Conduct yourselves….”

The motivation comes in these words: Paul says that we are to conduct ourselves in light of the gospel of Christ; and as imposing as that is at first glance, there’s some and very real encouragement in that phrase. And so in both the exhortation and the verb used – conduct yourselves, live this way, walk this way – there’s encouragement; and in the phrase the gospel of Christ there is encouragement.

Paul says fairly directly three things in this passage. He tells you that you need to realize your new citizenship, and that’s going to be one of the encouragements, one of the motivations to living in a manner worthy of the gospel – realizing your citizenship. Secondly, he’s going to tell you to live in light of the gospel. And when you realize what that means, what the gospel was for you, that’s a real encouragement. And then, thirdly, and implicitly, he’s reminding you that you need to know the gospel and its implications. Studying the gospel is a life-long pursuit. Knowing the gospel and seeing it worked out in all of the ramifications that it has into every area of our life is a life-long pursuit. It’s something that we are always seeing deeper implications of. It’s something that we’re always seeing new applications of in our life.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

We’ve been in this section of Philippians for several days now, studying Paul’s life verse and life goal and seeing the reason he wants to live rather than die and be with Christ: because it is better for the Philippians.

In verses 25-26, Paul is giving us a declaration of his philosophy of ministry. If he’s not going to go and be with Jesus, what is it that he wants to stay here and do amongst Christians and amongst congregations? It’s three things: Progress; Joy; and, Confidence – that’s what he wants to produce in local churches if he’s going to stay here. It’s an ambition that is going to cost Paul dearly.

In II Corinthians 11:24-27 Paul tells us what he’d endured in order for this ambition to be realized. He’s not going to die and go to be with Jesus, instead this is what is going to happen to the Paul:

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes….

Three times I was beaten with rods,

once I was stoned,

three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;

I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

He does all of this because of the ambition of verses 25-26.

I. Progress.

Paul says, I’m willing to stay and go through all of this because I want to see you grow as believers. I want to see you knowing more of the truth. I want to see you loving more of the truth of the Scripture. I want congregations that are obsessed with these kinds of things. They’re growing, progressing in their Christian life because the gospel has taken root in them. And I’m willing to endure so that churches will progress in the Christian faith.

Does our appetite for, our interest in, our enthusiasm about growth in grace match that kind of commitment to us from Paul?

II. Joy.

Secondly, Paul says to us, ‘I’m willing not to go to be with Jesus; I’m willing to stay here and be beaten and abused and persecuted for your joy in the faith. I want you to get so much joy because you have trusted in Christ, because you have realized the supreme value of Christ.

This joy isn’t generic joy. It’s joy in Christ, gospel joy. It’s joy that required God to come in the flesh into this world. It required the Son of God to die on the cross and be dead and buried, and to be raised again from the dead for you. It requires the Holy Spirit to renew your heart so that you are born again in order to experience this joy. And Paul says, ‘It is worth it to me, Philippians, not to go to be with Jesus, but to stay here to work for your joy.’

Real joy, gospel joy is dangerous joy. Paul is saying, ‘I want you to be so happy in Jesus that you’re ready to die for Him. I want you to be so happy in Jesus that nothing else in this life measures up to Him.’ This is a radical, dangerous joy that Paul is talking about.

This is utterly different is from what we see going on in the world around us today. The practitioners of Wahhabi Islam are saying, ‘God is so great that I will die for him blowing up infidels.’ This is radically different from what Christianity is calling us to. You’re not a martyr when you blow other people up for God; you’re a martyr when you’re persecuted to death by other people because you want them to have joy, because you love them with a love that God has loved you with in Christ, and you long for their blessing and joy. It is utterly different than what is happening in Wahhabi Islam around the world, and it’s far more powerful and far more radical.

III. Confidence.

A third thing: Paul says that he wants to work for their confident joy in him in Jesus Christ.

Paul is saying, ‘I want you to get joy from me in my coming again. I want to come again to you and give you joy that God is sovereignly in control of me in my life, in your life, in the progress of the gospel; and I want you to see that your fears were ill-founded, and that the Lord of heaven is still ruling all things by His Word and Spirit, and I want to be a blessing to you.’

And: He wants Jesus to get the glory for his coming again to the Philippians. The point is not their confidence in Paul; the point is their confidence in God for bringing Paul to them again.

And so he wants a church that’s growing in grace, growing as believers, that knows real joy – the joy which is in the faith, the joy of the faith, that only comes from Jesus Christ; and he wants them to glorify Christ even in their joy in him. And he’s willing to stay and work for these things.

These things are not added extras to the Christian life. These things are essential: growing in grace; coming to value Christ so much that everything else that is enjoyed is enjoyed in Him, but nothing else is enjoyed as much as Him, and nothing else that is enjoyed is enjoyed apart from Him. And our battle is that we have so much that it’s easy to just think totally apart from Christ, totally apart from His incarnation, from his crucifixion and from the new birth, ‘Life is good! Life is sweet!’ Paul is saying ‘I’ve come to realize that life is not good, life is not sweet, apart from Christ.’

This happened to the Philippian Christians, look at II Corinthians 8 and 9. Paul says that God’s grace came to the Christians in Macedonia so that in the midst of their poverty, generosity overflowed so that the Macedonians are giving Paul money so that he can go share the gospel to the filthy-rich Corinthians. It’s glorious, isn’t it?

Monday, March 28, 2011

We saw last week how Paul was arguing with himself whether it was, ‘better for me to die and be with Christ, or is it better for me to live and fruitfully labor?’ He decides to follow in his Master’s footsteps, that it is better for their sake that he live, and so Paul prays that God will allow him to live, that Paul may continue to encourage the Philippians.

There are so many other things we could say, but this is the one thing I want us to focus on:The gospel gives us a joy that allows us to be selfless and to seek the joys of others. And that truth had come home to Paul. Paul was a very religious man when he was a Pharisee named Saul, he thought that he could glorify God by killing Jewish people who became followers of Jesus the Messiah. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians when Jesus Himself met him and brought about a radical transformation in his life. And despite being a religious man, He changed him from being fundamentally a selfish man to being a joyful worshiper of the one true God, filled with desire for others to enjoy the joy that God had given him by the gospel.

The people that populate this world long for joy, for fulfillment, for satisfaction. The people who are in this world all around us—Christian or not, religious or not—want those things. But often they seek for that personal joy at the expense of others, and in so doing they are idolaters. They have put themselves and their joy, their satisfaction, at the very center of life.

The Christian message to that selfish, self-centered, joy-seeking world is not “Forget about joy; be good and do good to others.” That is not the gospel message. The gospel is that God has done something for us in His Son that we could not do ourselves, for ourselves or for others, and that something He has done in His Son has given to us the joy for which God created us, and so we are freed from seeking our own personal joy to be concerned about the joy of others because we have been given the greatest joy that we could ever have: fellowship with the living God through Jesus Christ—through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; through His substitutionary atonement on the cross; and, therefore, the gospel has given us a joy that allows us to be selfless, but also causes us to have a longing for others to participate in that same joy.

Paul is manifesting the fruit of that truth when he says that he will pray for life and seek their progress and joy. Not because Paul is renouncing joy, but because he has found a joy that is beyond anything that he could have achieved by pursuing joy for joy’s sake. He has been given joy from Christ, who said to His disciples, “I have come to give you life, and that abundantly.” Having received that joy by grace from God through Christ in His death on the cross, now he is set free to seek the joy of others.

After realizing this, it would be very easy for us to draw this lesson from this passage: Paul was selfless; we ought to be selfless, too. Well, that’s true. We ought to be selfless. But if that were the gospel, we’d all be going to hell. But this is the gospel: Someone was selfless for us, and gave us a greater joy than we could ever have found in our own seeking, and has set us free now from our selfishness to enjoy the selfless pursuit of the joy of others in Christ Jesus. That’s great news, and it’s the news that liberated Paul from fear as he faced continued imprisonment and possible death. It’s a joy that can liberate you from every fear you face, if you will but trust in Christ.

The song - and many of us know it quite well, “In Christ Alone,” beautifully encapsulates it. The song’s first stanza’s confession sounds so much like Romans 8 and Philippians 1:

“In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What height of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when striving cease!

My comforter, my all in all,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.”

That’s the confession of the Apostle Paul: “For to me, to live is Christ.” Bring the storm on. Bring the drought on. Bring the strivings on. My life is hid with God in Christ. He is my all in all. The song concludes as Paul concludes this, because that’s true:

“No guilt in life…” [my sin has been dealt with]

“No fear in death…” [I have nothing to fear from the grave.]

“This is the power of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.”

We could fill up years of meditation just on that sentence: “From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.” Not the world, not the flesh, not the devil; but Jesus commands my destiny.

That’s exactly what Paul is saying in Philippians 1:21-26. I pray that you would be so captured by the glory and the comfort and the joy of that reality that you will determine to study it until it is more real for you than it has ever been real before.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

At the end of the evening service tonight (March 27, 2001), I made the following announcement pertaining to Derek Thomas' call to First Presbyterian Church (ARP), Columbia, SC.

This morning, the congregation of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC voted to call Derek Thomas to be their Associate Minister, working alongside his longtime friend, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. Derek has accepted this call and, pending the approval of his new presbytery and his transfer by ours, is due to begin his work there on June 1, just a little over two months hence.

Derek has served us as Minister of Teaching since August 2, 1999. These almost twelve years have been an extraordinary blessing to our whole congregation, and to me. I have known Derek Thomas for almost half my life. He is a faithful and esteemed colleague, he is one of the great preachers of our time, he has been to me “that friend who sticketh closer than a brother,” and he has been my pastor for more than a decade.

Derek and I have been praying and talking about this for many weeks now. I told him that, selfishly, I wanted him to be here with us, but that, even more, I wanted him to do whatever he thought the Lord was calling him to do, and that I would be fully and unreservedly supportive, no matter his decision.

And, I am, my dear friend.

No one here tonight or in our congregation will miss you more than I will. So also no one is more delighted for you in this new calling, or more overjoyed at the thought of what the congregation of First Columbia is going to receive in and through you.

Derek and Rosemary will continue their life and ministry among us for some weeks ahead, so there is no reason for us to try to say goodbye tonight. We simply wanted you as a congregation to know, and not to learn of this second-hand. We will have an opportunity, as a congregation, in May, to express our love and appreciation to Derek and Rosemary.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

For a while now we’ve been studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and for much of this month we’ve been parked at verse 21 of chapter 1, which we have seen as something of a “life verse” for Paul.

Today and into next week, we’re going to look at two things in verses 21-26, as we prepare to do that I want you to follow Paul’s argument—the argument that is going on inside his own heart in these verses.

In verse 21, you’ll see Paul’s thesis, his theme statement. It’s a truth claim which is life-changing.

Second, in verse 22, Paul articulates his dilemma: ‘Is it better for me to die and be with Christ, or is it better for me to live and fruitfully labor? In light of the truth of verse 21, is it better for me to fruitfully labor in life or to enjoy the immediate presence of Christ in death?’

Thirdly, he analyzes this dilemma in verses 23-24. He breaks down the dilemma and puts a name on both sides of the dilemma.

And then, finally, in verses 25-26, we see a resolution of the dilemma.

This week, we’ll go through Paul’s chain of arguments. The second thing, for next week, is to draw a life-changing truth from this passage.

In that very famous Shakespearean soliloquy, Hamlet is wrestling with the same question that Paul is wrestling with here. The Greeks, in Paul’s time when he was writing this letter, often viewed death as a relief from the hardships of life, and thought about death as comforting because it brought an end to the turmoil of this life. Hamlet raises a question about that kind of thinking in the famous soliloquy. Paul is wrestling with the same question, but in an entirely different framework.

I. Paul’s core belief (v. 21)

First, notice how he states his core belief about what the gospel has done for him in Jesus Christ: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” We’ve said all along that by saying that Paul is affirming that real life means knowing, loving, serving, glorifying, enjoying, and communing with Jesus Christ. That is real life, and God has given him that real life in Christ. Because of that, death is gain, and will usher us into the immediate presence of Christ.

II. Paul’s dilemma (v. 22)

But this leads him into a struggle. To die is gain, he says at the end of verse 21.

Paul is saying death will bring an inestimable gain for me. There’s no questioning in Paul’s heart. It’s not that he wants to die; it’s that he wants to be with Christ, and death is the transition that he must pass through in order to be with Christ. Living, however, means fruitful labor, telling people about Christ, serving the church, encouraging the Philippians who have sent him out to the mission field. And so he states his dilemma at the end of verse 22: ‘I don’t know which of these things that I ought to long for.'

And then he begins to analyze this dilemma in verses 23-24. “I’m hard pressed from both directions…”

‘To depart is better for me; to stay is better for you.’ Paul says it’s a no-brainer: if to depart is better for me, but to stay is better for you, I know what I’m going to pray. In fact, he says, I know what God’s going to do in His providence. He will allow me to stay and minister to you for a while longer.

Of course, Paul is reflecting his Savior at that point. Was it better for Jesus to stay in glory with angels worshiping and singing to Him day and night in the halls of heaven, or to come to earth in our poor flesh and blood to live and die in a fallen world, to be rejected by His own people, to be executed by the religious leaders of His day, to be dead and buried? No, it would have been better for Jesus to stay in the halls of glory, but it was needful for us that He come. And so Paul is just drawing the same conclusion, following in the footsteps of his Savior.

III. Paul’s resolution (vv. 25-26)

Paul opens verse 25 with: “Convinced of this….” That truth claim is what starts this dilemma for Paul. (begin bold) Do you believe the same thing that Paul says that he believes in Philippians 1:21 (end bold)? If you do, then I would challenge you to make a study of Philippians 1:21, and to ask God in prayer, “Lord, help me to believe Philippians 1:21 like Paul believed Philippians 1:21 when he wrote it; and, correspondingly, change my life so that I’m really living my life in light of the truth of Philippians 1:21.”

Paul is convinced of it, and it changed the way that he looked at life. He did not look at life as miserable and fruitless, but as joyful and fruitful; and he could still anticipate death as full of an even greater joy.

Remember that the reason that he is sharing this struggle with the Philippians is for the increase of their joy. They were troubled by the fact that he was in prison, that he was incapable of doing mission work, that he was facing the prospect of death. And so he wrote to them to comfort them and to give them joy.

Paul knows that it is good for him to remain, because he can serve the growth, the progress, and the joy of the Philippian Christians, and indeed of all who trust in Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

We’ve been in this verse for a while, and we haven’t gotten to the second half of the verse yet.

There’s good reason for that. The comfort that we all look for – and surely we look for it especially in the hour of death – the comfort that we get in the second half of this verse in Paul’s affirmation that “to die is gain” is reserved for those who know the truth of the first half of this verse. In other words, the second half of this verse makes no sense and holds no hope out to those who have not realized the grace in their experience of the first half of this verse. It is for those who to live is Christ that to die is gain. And so we are now finally to the second half of this verse.

Thomas Boston once said that as the believer’s life is different from the unbeliever’s life, so also the believer’s death is different from the unbeliever’s death. For the unbeliever, death is a loss – the greatest loss; but for the believer, death is the greatest gain.

Now how can that be true? Despite that natural and appropriate grief and mourning and sense of loss that we experience even as believers when loved ones die, yet for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ death is the greatest gain. And that’s what Paul is saying.

How can he say that? For four reasons, and you’ll find them in and around Philippians 1:21.

I. To die is gain.

Paul says in Philippians 1:21: “…to die is gain.” What kind of gain? You might think of stanza 4 of “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation”:

“Here vouchsafe to all thy servants what they ask of Thee to gain…”

“…What they gain from thee forever with the blessed to retain…”

“…And hereafter in Thy glory evermore with Thee to reign.”

This hymn is singing of the gain that Paul is talking about in Philippians 1:21, as he goes on in verse 23 “…To depart and to be with Christ.” The gain is to be with Christ, the greatest gain because our greatest prize is Christ and being with Him, and in death we are united with Him. We are brought into fellowship with Him. I love the way Paul puts this in II Corinthians 5:8: “…I prefer to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” The prime longing of every Christian is to be with Christ, to fellowship with Christ because we prize Christ more than anything else. We immediately enjoy fellowship with Christ at death.

II. Made perfect in holiness.

Believers approach death as gain because in death believers are made perfect in holiness. Paul wrestled all his life with the reality that sin has worked its way into every part of us because of Adam’s original sin. It deeply grieved Paul that though he was redeemed by the blood of Christ and had been called into His service, yet he still struggled with sin, and he writes about it in Romans 7:24:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

He answers that question in Philippians 1:20. In Philippians 1:20, he says:

“I will not be put to shame in anything, but with all boldness Christ will even now as always be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Paul knew that in death, Christ was going to be exalted in his perfecting of Paul so that he would never ever sin again. That’s why Paul will say in Romans 7:25, “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ!”

III. Pass into glory.

In death believers pass into glory. Paul says in Philippians 1:23, that he’s hard pressed from both directions. He has a desire to depart and be with Christ, because “it is very much better.” When a believer passes through death, he passes into a place of glory, and into a company of glory, and into a state of glory.

Jesus says in John 14:2. “I go to prepare a place for you. In My Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.” It is a glorious place with glorious company: there we will be with all the saints, including those loved ones in Christ for whom you are awaiting a reunion, and the angels, but above all, the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a glorious state! “Rest,” Hebrews 4:9 says. Rest! In this overly busy life that we live: running around chasing our own tails. But there: everlasting rest.

In death we begin to taste for the first time the fullness of the glory to come. Though in our death we do not immediately taste all of the fullness of the glory to come – that awaits the resurrection – but in death, more than we have ever before, we will taste glory.

IV. United to Christ

In death believers are still united to Christ. What does Paul say in Philippians 1:23? That to depart is to be with Christ. We are enjoying being with Christ because we are united to Him. This is the fulfillment of what Paul says in those so familiar and beautiful words in Romans 8:38

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And then the Apostle Paul, when he says that to depart is to be with Christ, when he says that to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord, is affirming the truth of Romans 8 for believers. Though our bodies are still in the grave, we’re united to our Savior and our souls fellowship with Him. That’s why one Christian said, “Christians outlive and out die pagans.” Are you prepared for your dying day? Only if you understand the first part of Philippians 1:21 can you know the comfort of the second part of Philippians 1:21. May God grant that you are prepared now by the gospel for that great day!

Monday, March 21, 2011

A few weeks ago we started studying Phil 1.21, and we said that this verse says two things. First, if to live is Christ means to know, love, serve, glorify, enjoy, commune with Jesus Christ. Second, we said this verse suggests we can approach death as gain, which we’ll look at next week. This week, now that we’re all back from Spring Break, I want to look more deeply, apply, illustrate the four ways of manifesting that to live is Christ that we said last week.

If those for whom it is true that to live is Christ want to know as much of Christ as possible, want to be as much like Christ as possible, want Christ to be known as far and wide as possible, and want to enjoy Christ more than anyone or anything else, what does that look like?

First, those who purpose to know as much of Christ as it is possible to know read their Bibles looking for, come to church hungry for, and are avid learners of the truth of Christ.

Are you like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who can testify that as Jesus opened that Bible to them and preached to them Christ from all the Scriptures. They read their Scriptures looking for Christ, because as our Lord Jesus said, those Scriptures speak of Him. Those who want to know as much of Christ as possible read their Bibles regularly with a view to seeing Christ revealed in all His glory.

And those who want to know Christ and want to know more of Christ, and want to know as much of Christ as it is possible to know come to church looking for Christ as He is offered in the gospel. They come to church not looking for excitement, entertainment, or styles; they come looking for Christ as He is offered in the gospel. They look for Him in the songs, in the prayers, in the words, and in the message that is proclaimed. If He is not there, no matter what else is there, no matter what entertainment, no matter what excitement, they go back empty, because what they have come for is for Christ.

Those who purpose to know as much of Christ as it is possible to know read their Bibles in this way and come to church hungry for Him in this way.

Secondly, those who purpose to be like Christ – who want to emulate Him, who want to love the things that He loves, who want to do the will of Him who sent Him – know that their acceptance with God does not rest on their wanting to be like Christ.

If you think that your acceptance with God, your forgiveness and pardon and salvation from God is dependent upon your wanting to be like Christ and in some measure becoming more like Christ, then you’re mistaken. The message of Christianity is not God giving you some good advice on what you can do to help yourself out. The gospel message of Christianity is about what Christ has done, so that you could be accepted by your loving heavenly Father, justly and mercifully, righteously and graciously; and you cannot add to that. And so those who want to be like Christ, as much like Christ as possible, don’t want to be like Christ so that they will be accepted by God: they know that in Christ they are loved as much as it is possible for a child to be loved. By His grace, sins are forgiven and washed away, not because of anything that they have done.

But precisely because they have been given that grace, they crave to manifest His character in their character. They want to manifest Christ-likeness in their vocations, recreations, and relationships. They want no part of their life untouched by the sovereign, transforming grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Those who live as if to live is Christ not only want to know Him, not only want to be like Him, but they want to make Him known to the ends of the earth, and they are ready to undertake tremendous costs.

Finally, those who purpose to enjoy Christ study to delight in Him, and prize or value Him. Those who purpose to enjoy Christ study to delight in Him and prize or value Him. Ask yourself this question: ‘What is it that I want most in life? What is it that I care most about in this life? What is it that I love most in this life?’ you can answer that question by looking at: How do you spend your money? How do you spend your time? Where are your affections? What do you think about when you’re not thinking about anything else? That will show you what you love.

True believers have come to understand that God did not send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He could save us from our sins and save us from hell so that we could go back to loving something else other than Him – or as much as, or more than Him. He saved us from sin and from hell so that we could delight in the thing which God created human beings to delight in, and that is Himself, through Jesus Christ.

But our hearts are tugged – even those who know Him and love Him, we find our hearts being pulled in two directions – to Him and away from Him. And so we have to study to delight in Him. We have to deliberately determine that we are going to delight in Him more than and above anything and everything else.

That’s why Jonathon Edwards says:

“True saints center their attention on Christ, and His beauty transcends all others. His delight is the source of all other delights. He is Himself the best among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.”

That’s why John Piper says that the authenticating inner essence of worship is being satisfied with Christ, prizing Christ, cherishing Christ, treasuring Christ. And that’s what we are to be doing in our worship services – prizing Christ, treasuring Christ, valuing Christ, delighting in Christ, being satisfied in Christ, going hard after Christ – because His delight is better than any other delight, and His delight alone cannot be taken from us.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Last week we said that this verse says two things. First, if to live is Christ means to know, love, serve, glorify, enjoy, commune with Jesus Christ. Second, we said this verse suggests we can approach death as gain, which we’ll look at later in the week. Today, however, I want to look more deeply, apply, illustrate the four ways of manifesting that to live is Christ that we said last week.

If those for whom it is true that to live is Christ want to know as much of Christ as possible, want to be as much like Christ as possible, want Christ to be known as far and wide as possible, and want to enjoy Christ more than anyone or anything else, what does that look like?

First, those who purpose to know as much of Christ as it is possible to know read their Bibles looking for, come to church hungry for, and are avid learners of the truth of Christ.

Are you like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who can testify that as Jesus opened that Bible to them and preached to them Christ from all the Scriptures. They read their Scriptures looking for Christ, because as our Lord Jesus said, those Scriptures speak of Him. Those who want to know as much of Christ as possible read their Bibles regularly with a view to seeing Christ revealed in all His glory.

And those who want to know Christ and want to know more of Christ, and want to know as much of Christ as it is possible to know come to church looking for Christ as He is offered in the gospel. They come to church not looking for excitement, entertainment, or styles; they come looking for Christ as He is offered in the gospel. They look for Him in the songs, in the prayers, in the words, and in the message that is proclaimed. If He is not there, no matter what else is there, no matter what entertainment, no matter what excitement, they go back empty, because what they have come for is for Christ.

Those who purpose to know as much of Christ as it is possible to know read their Bibles in this way and come to church hungry for Him in this way.

Secondly, those who purpose to be like Christ – who want to emulate Him, who want to love the things that He loves, who want to do the will of Him who sent Him – know that their acceptance with God does not rest on their wanting to be like Christ.

If you think that your acceptance with God, your forgiveness and pardon and salvation from God is dependent upon your wanting to be like Christ and in some measure becoming more like Christ, then you’re mistaken. The message of Christianity is not God giving you some good advice on what you can do to help yourself out. The gospel message of Christianity is about what Christ has done, so that you could be accepted by your loving heavenly Father, justly and mercifully, righteously and graciously; and you cannot add to that. And so those who want to be like Christ, as much like Christ as possible, don’t want to be like Christ so that they will be accepted by God: they know that in Christ they are loved as much as it is possible for a child to be loved. By His grace, sins are forgiven and washed away, not because of anything that they have done.

But precisely because they have been given that grace, they crave to manifest His character in their character. They want to manifest Christ-likeness in their vocations, recreations, and relationships. They want no part of their life untouched by the sovereign, transforming grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Those who live as if to live is Christ not only want to know Him, not only want to be like Him, but they want to make Him known to the ends of the earth, and they are ready to undertake tremendous costs.

Finally, those who purpose to enjoy Christ study to delight in Him, and prize or value Him. Those who purpose to enjoy Christ study to delight in Him and prize or value Him. Ask yourself this question: ‘What is it that I want most in life? What is it that I care most about in this life? What is it that I love most in this life?’ you can answer that question by looking at: How do you spend your money? How do you spend your time? Where are your affections? What do you think about when you’re not thinking about anything else? That will show you what you love.

True believers have come to understand that God did not send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He could save us from our sins and save us from hell so that we could go back to loving something else other than Him – or as much as, or more than Him. He saved us from sin and from hell so that we could delight in the thing which God created human beings to delight in, and that is Himself, through Jesus Christ.

But our hearts are tugged – even those who know Him and love Him, we find our hearts being pulled in two directions – to Him and away from Him. And so we have to study to delight in Him. We have to deliberately determine that we are going to delight in Him more than and above anything and everything else.

That’s why Jonathon Edwards says:

“True saints center their attention on Christ, and His beauty transcends all others. His delight is the source of all other delights. He is Himself the best among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.”

That’s why John Piper says that the authenticating inner essence of worship is being satisfied with Christ, prizing Christ, cherishing Christ, treasuring Christ. And that’s what we are to be doing in our worship services – prizing Christ, treasuring Christ, valuing Christ, delighting in Christ, being satisfied in Christ, going hard after Christ – because His delight is better than any other delight, and His delight alone cannot be taken from us.